Shadow
by Shiro Tsubasa
Summary: Darkness lying in the light, a shadow. Most are harmless, however some rise to engulf the light. This is the tale of one such shadow, one that will change the world. *Note: The pairing is Harry/Daphne but it's not going to have much in the romance department.*
1. Chapter 1

_**Shiro Tsubasa here with a new fanfic! That's right! I wrote something else! *cue fanfare* ANYWAY, this idea struck me while I was writing **__**Secrets Unleashed**__** so I thought, why not? It wasn't like it was just going to go away because I ignored it (**__**Secrets Unleashed**__** was in my head for 3 months before I wrote it.) I hope this story turns out well as I'm letting it write itself and I don't have the best track record of finishing anything that's not a one-shot. I hope you enjoy it and feel free to leave plenty of reviews (no flames though, I'll cry.)**_

**Disclaimer: Is Harry dark and did Ginny die in the Chamber? No? Then I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated with it (though I did buy a copy of each book, if that counts for anything.)**

**Legend:  
**"Speech"  
'Thought'  
§Parseltongue§

***The Burrow, night before the departure to Hogwarts***

"Sweet, sweet silence. Oh how I missed you." A messy haired youth stated from his position under an apple tree in the Weasley family orchard. "I swear, I don't know what part of this summer was worse, staying with the muggles or staying with these idiotic Weasels." Anyone who heard this would not have believed who the words came from, for the youth was none other than Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, Gryffindor Golden Boy, and many other names that would probably wind up in the death of whomever spoke them depending on his mood. What many, including his so called "friends", didn't know was that it was an act. For almost four years the one whom many viewed as their savior had been plotting their downfall, using their own image of him to hide his true nature.

In his first year he began his plans, after discovering the Wizarding World and the rampant stupidity of the common citizen he had decided that they would be better off with a leader who would rebuild them into a prestigious race ruling over the filthy muggles. With his decision having been made, Harry proceeded to learn. At first it was merely learning all of his school works and the workings of Wizarding politics, a rather stupid institution if you asked him but one he could work with. Before long he had exhausted all of his books and proceeded to systematically go through the school library. After facing Voldemort for Flamel's stone, currently stashed in his school trunk after having replaced it with a convincing fake, he decided to delve into the Dark Arts.

His second year involved quite a bit of research into his new topic of study. Following a trip to Knockturne Alley, Harry had a small library of Dark Arts books, Grey Arts books, and Occlumency books as well as an untraceable wand to practice with. When he returned to Hogwarts he had mastered most of the basic curses, taking a particular liking to the bowl liquefying curse, and was working on some obscure ones. His mind, while not fully occluded, was strong enough to resist most basic Legilimens and give warning should someone attempt in the first place. With the discovery of his Parseltongue abilities during that idiotic duel with Malfoy, he proceeded to test using Parseltongue to fuel his spells. Upon discovering they amplified the strength of most spells he made sure to set aside time to master each spell regularly and in Parsel to the point of being able to use them on a whim. By the end of his second year Harry had spell knowledge far beyond his years but not the dueling skill to use it effectively, as shown when he was beaten by the shard of Voldemort and an overgrown snake.

After his humiliating defeat and having to be saved by Dumbledore's phoenix, Harry racked his brain trying to determine a way to advance his dueling skill while keeping his abilities hidden. The answer came to him in the form of the ex-Malfoy house elf, Dobby, who told him of a rumor among the elves of a room in Hogwarts that caters to the will of the user. After learning the location from the kitchen elves, again with the help of Dobby, he used the room to duel dummies spelled to act as Wizards for the short time until his leave for the year. Upon returning to the Dursley hellhole, Harry decided rather quickly to leave. Marge's arrival proved to be opportune as he inflated her with his spare wand and altered the Dursley's minds to make it seem as if it was nothing but a burst of accidental magic. When he arrived at the Leaky Cauldron to see the Minister, Cornelius Fudge, awaiting him he had thought he was found out only to skate through on his fame.

During his time in Diagon he made several more trips to Knockturne and even a few to Gringotts, where he quietly took his role as head of the Potter family due to his orphan status. During one of the trips to Knockturne he came across an "exotic" (read illegal) pet shop and, on a whim, bought a rather large black egg. Shortly before his meeting with the Weasels and Granger, whom he had learned were helping themselves to the gold in his vaults, the egg hatched into a beautiful black phoenix with white tips on her wings and tail feathers and eyes the color of rubies. Upon her hatching she bonded with Harry, giving him his very own dark phoenix. Nyx, having been named after a goddess of the Night, proved to be a valuable asset in moving around without arousing suspicion.

Upon returning to Hogwarts, Harry redoubled his efforts to become an effective dueler despite the fact he was watched constantly for fear of Sirius Black coming after him. What most of the Wizarding World didn't know was that Black was innocent, Gringotts having records of every death and his parents leaving him a letter informing him of Pettigrew's role as the real secret keeper helping prove it to him rather easily. Though Black was supposedly his godfather, he had chosen revenge over his godson and so Harry was quite content to let him rot, especially as his freedom would not work well in his plans if he had truly forsaken his Black roots. Even with the Patronus training with Lupin, Harry still found time to learn new spells and further his knowledge, which was becoming much harder to hide in class. A few slip-ups, which he played off as luck, were too many in the grand scheme so, around Christmas, he took some time off from learning and spent it planning and adapting his existing ones to the changes that had occurred.

One of the biggest changes in his plans was the addition of his girlfriend, Daphne Greengrass, whom he had met in second year. He was training one afternoon when she decided to be curious.

***Flashback***

"Damnit, still not good enough!" Harry practically hissed as the conjured rat he was training on twitched but just wouldn't die.

"I don't know Potter, it was a pretty good blood boiler for a four year old," came the sarcastic reply from the doorway. Harry turned rapidly with his wand ready and a bowl liquefier on his lips only to stop when he saw his intruder. Though a second year, she was already well on her way to being one of the most gorgeous women in the school and Harry had to stop himself from openly staring. Her wavy black hair glinted in the torchlight as she scrutinized him. Her eyes, though seemingly cold and unpleasant, held a glint of amusement within their violet depths. Her face, aristocratic and beautiful, held a small smirk. While slightly taller than the average girl, she held herself with a grace and poise showing her pureblood upbringing.

"Well, if it isn't Slytherin's Ice Queen, to what do I owe this pleasure Miss Greengrass?" He stated with a slight smirk of his own, though he never lowered his wand. "I heard spells and admit myself curious, why would Gryffindor's Golden Boy be practicing Dark Arts in the middle of the night?" She gave a start as a spell crashed into the wall beside her head. "NEVER call me that, and to answer your question, it's none of your business." Harry hissed darkly, his emerald eyes flashing with anger. "My apologies, though if you tell me why you're here, I might be inclined to aid you in your endeavors." She could see his eyes calculating the pros and cons of such a deal and knew she had him.

***End Flashback***

After that initial meeting they continued to train together and she became his first follower as well as his closest friend. By third year he had fallen in love with her and asked her out shortly after their return to Hogwarts. On top of training with Harry and eventually dating him, her other job was to slowly convert people to his side. By the end of third year almost every Slytherin under fourth year was with him and were working on converting their parents as well, along with some Ravenclaws and a handful of Hufflepuffs. Harry knew better than to try to convert the Lion's Den, as that could easily backfire on him and his entire cover would be blown.

Near the end of third year Harry had started researching the Animagus transformation. After taking the potion, he discovered his form was that of a black panther and had just completed the transformation last week with the Marauder's shortcut he gleaned from Lupin before he left. As it stood he was well on his way to conquest and just needed the right opportunity to begin his plans.

Harry was broken out of his reverie by a warm sensation on his chest. Pulling out the heart shaped locket he kept under his shirt he let a small smile grace his lips. "Hello love," he whispered as he opened the locket to see his girlfriend's face in the communication mirror kept within. He raised an eyebrow at her appearance. "I like the streaks, when did you get them done?" Sure enough, her hair had blood red streaks going through her front bangs. "Today, I'm glad you like them." She answered, smiling at his sincerity in his compliment, a rare thing from her Black King. "My hair isn't the reason I called though, I just heard from Malfoy about the stunt at the World Cup." Harry grimaced at the reminder of those stupid Death Eaters; they had almost gotten him stunned by incompetent Ministry officials. Daphne let a small chuckle escape before regaining her composure and continuing her report. "As I was saying, apparently the attack was ordered by Voldemort through Barty Crouch Jr. It would seem his father slipped him out of Azkaban and he just recently escaped before joining back up with Voldy."

"Oh really? That's interesting, but what is so important that you couldn't wait until the train ride tomorrow to tell me?" The dark haired young man questioned with a raised eyebrow, while intriguing he couldn't see the importance of the information aside from a possible return of Voldemort. Daphne huffed in annoyance, sometimes he could be so impatient. "I was getting to that. According to Malfoy's dad, with my own verifying the information, Voldy is planning a resurrection ritual and is going to use the Tri-Wizard tournament as a cover to get you there for it." The rising Lord grinned in a manner befitting a shark, this would do perfectly. "Remind me to reward the Malfoys, that kind of information is well worth it." Daphne had to suppress a grin, if he liked that, he would absolutely drool over what she still had for him. "Well, if you are happy now, wait until I finish. Apparently Crouch Jr. is going to be in Hogwarts, probably as the new DADA teacher given the trend, and is tasked with ensuring you get into, and survive, the tournament." Harry's grin got wider and a dark chuckle escaped before he could stop it, this night just kept getting better. Not only would he get to remove Voldy once and for all, he'd have a Death Eater help him do it!

"This is perfect, I was wondering when he was going to attempt something and this will work beautifully. Tell the Malfoys to keep an eye on any Death Eaters who might not align with me and to try to get anything they can on the resurrection ritual, I want to make my move then and if I can find a way to screw with the ritual it will give me a huge advantage." Before Harry could continue with his ideas a screeching harpy interrupted him, calling him in for bed. With a growl he turned his attention back to Daphne. "Sorry dear, the harpy is calling for me. I can't wait until I take over; my first order is going to be putting her under permanent silencing charms. I shall see you tomorrow my Queen, goodnight." "Goodnight my King, I look forward to it." She finished by blowing a kiss before he shut his locket, hid it, and retreated back to the Burrow. 'Soon my plans shall take shape and this world shall be mine.'


	2. Chapter 2

_**Shiro Tsubasa here, new chapter yay! This was SUPPOSED to be up this past week, but what can I say? Procrastination and I have a long standing relationship that I would hate to jeopardize. I got very few reviews out of my previous chapter which makes me a sad panda. **__** On the plus side, one review pointed out my paragraphs are still a bit lengthy so I'll try to split them a bit better (though not really possible in this chapter, however future will be done.) He also suggested splitting the speech from paragraphs, if I get enough reviews I'll make the speech their own parts but as of now I plan to keep that how it is. On another note, this chapter is short, unbearably so by my standards. I typically have a self-imposed chapter minimum of 1000 words but this is like 850. If it had been closer I would have padded it out slightly but it was so far that I just didn't feel like it. I know many would say "Then why not describe a ton of stuff to increase it?" My answer to that is that I see no point in doing so, if it's not important I find it a bit annoying to read, especially when it's not any different from the way things have been described hundreds of times. Ironically enough I like vivid descriptions in most circumstances, it's just I find redundancy annoying. ANYWAY! Enough of this ungodly length A/N, enjoy and remember to review! Flames will be used to feed my Houndoom!**_

_**Disclaimer: *random fish speaking*: Shiro Tsubasa owns Harry Potter. *proceeds to slap the fish* Please ignore that delusional talking fish, I have no idea where he came from or how he can speak but I assure you he is lying through his gills, I do not own Harry Potter. I never have and never will, despite my wishes to the contrary.**_

**Legend:  
**"Speech"  
'Thought'  
§Parseltongue§

***Hogwarts Express, September 1****st*******

"I'm not feeling well guys, I'll be back." Harry emphasized his point by gripping his stomach and nearly running out of the compartment. As he reached the restroom he called for Nyx who appeared in a flash of black fire. Seconds later he was standing in the Slytherin compartment under privacy wards with multiple wands point at him. "Now is that any way to greet your King?" He questioned in a voice lined with killing intent should someone be stupid enough to finish their cast. At the sound of his voice all of the would-be aggressors lowered their wands with a unified "I'm sorry my lord." Though he was generally a merciful and somewhat kind lord, none of the occupants of the compartment were under any illusion that their life was worth anything to him with the Greengrass heiress being the notable exception. With the threat dealt with Harry offered a slight nod in acknowledgement before sitting gracefully next to his queen. With a kiss to his cheek, Daphne cuddled into his side with a pleased smile on her face.

"I'm so thankful to be out of that damn compartment, between Weasel's constant stupidity and Granger's annoying habit of not shutting up I almost lost it." Harry grumbled as he laid his arm around his girlfriend. "So, anything important I should know?" he asked, mostly looking to the Malfoy heir and the Parkinson heiress, as most of the other Slytherin students were rather useless when it came to information gathering. "Father doesn't have anything at the moment" Pansy answered, her voice at such an annoying pitch that Harry had to stop himself from flinching. 'Note to self: Put a silencing spell on Parkinson too.' From the look on her face, Daphne was having similar thoughts. "My father says Crouch was supposed to take Alastor Moody's place as DADA teacher. He also said that most of the Inner Circle will stand with you if you can take him down, though they have to see it first. As for the ritual he's got some of his contacts looking for it, it shouldn't be too long before it's found." Draco answered in a bored tone.

"That's good to know, if the Inner Circle will back me that means less of a chance of the lower ranks defecting. I plan to start the smaller parts of the plan after Voldemort's death. If things go right then that will happen at his rebirth in front of the Inner Circle. As it stands I plan to reveal Daphne sometime this year." From beside him he feels Daphne stiffen slightly before hugging him. "And here I thought I was just a mistress," Daphne teased. Harry smirks before replying, "Well, I could always take Bones as my wife and you could be the mist-OWW." The rest of the compartment winced as their Lord's head flew forward from the force of their Queen's hand. "That wasn't very lady-like, and here I was going to talk to your father soon, I guess not now." Daphne glares at the comment before realizing what he was implying. "You mean?" "Yes, I have an appointment with your father on the first Hogsmade weekend to make an offer for a betrothal contract." The Greengrass heiress squealed even higher than Pansy was capable of before throwing composure out the window and tackling her soon-to-be betrothed. The rest of the compartment just looked away, not wanting to be cursed for not minding their business.

***5 minutes later***

Having finally extracted his mouth from an over-zealous Ice Queen, Harry bid farewell to his loyal Snakes before flashing back to the toilet. 'I was a bit longer than I planned, but I should be able to play it off.' Distracted by his thoughts it was no surprise when he nearly barreled over someone. Looking up from his location on the ground, Harry spotted a pretty redhead and a blonde with her hair tied in pigtails. "Hello Susan, Hannah. That was my fault, I was thinking." Susan looked in shock at the person she knocked over before hastily apologizing and helping him up, seeing that no one but Hannah was around she responded, "It's alright my Lord, neither of us was paying attention either so it's just as much our fault." Harry gave a nod at the formal apology and bid his Hufflepuff spies farewell before heading back to his "friends."

"Are you alright Harry? You should go see Madame Pomfrey when you get to school." The chiding tone of Granger greeted him as he entered the compartment. 'I really wonder if I shouldn't just have silencing spells placed on all women, this is getting ridiculous.' The Dark King thought with exasperation. Making sure to keep his face neutral he replied, "I'm fine. I think breakfast disagreed with me is all." Seeing that they believed him, he took his seat beside the Weasel and proceeded to slip back into his "Golden Boy" mask. "Want to play Exploding Snap?" came the almost instant invitation from the red headed menace. Politely declining, Harry settled down and waited for the next hour to slip by.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Shiro Tsubasa is finally here with a long delayed chapter! Now, if it wasn't terribly obvious earlier, I have taken canon, lit it on fire, and thrown it out the window. This chapter demonstrates this point perfectly as I have almost completely redone the dialogue for the opening feast (I say almost because I have no idea where my book is for reference, so some things might accidentally be the same.) As for the calendar year, which I probably should have mentioned earlier, I have decided to go with the current year of 2013. While this has no real bearing on anything within the story (as of writing this of course) it will influence the days that events occur. As an example, this chapter starts on September 1**__**st**__**, a Sunday, so classes will start on Monday and so forth. Reviews are welcome and flames will be extinguished by the mighty torrent of my awesomeness!**_

**Disclaimer: Shiro Tsubasa does not claim ownership to Harry Potter. He does however claim ownership to a Nargle named George, who may or may not exist.**

**Legend:  
**"Speech"  
'Thought'  
§Parseltongue§

***Great Hall, September 1****st*******

Harry suppressed a sigh, already dreading this night. As he sat at the Gryffindor table waiting on the Sorting Hat to finish its song he idly wondered if he was ever as tiny as the current first years. 'I probably was, thank Merlin for growth spurts.' When he returned to reality the last student, a frail looking boy whose name he didn't catch, was sorted into Hufflepuff. With robes as subtle as the seizures they were bound to create, Dumbledore stood, gaining the attention of everyone in the hall. "To our new students, I bid you welcome! To our returning students, welcome back! Our new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher owled me earlier and shall be here near the end of dinner. I have a very important announcement to make, however I'm sure you're all quite hungry so enjoy!" With his little speech finished, Dumbledore waved his hand as the food appeared on the tables. Chatter sprung among the students as they caught up with each other and began eating.

"It's unlike Dumbledore to mention an important announcement before dinner, normally he just springs it on us. I wonder what it's about." Hermione questioned. 'You probably already know. More than likely you already have the year planned out with Dumbles too.' Harry thought with disdain. After making sure not to let his feelings show, the teen just shrugged and resumed chewing his rather bland potatoes. As he was eating, Harry felt a gaze on him and looked around for the source. As his eyes glanced over the Slytherin table he noticed it was, in fact, his Queen looking at him with a slightly longing gaze before she turned away and resumed eating. Smiling inwardly he passed the rest of dinner planning just what he was going to say to her father next weekend.

When the last of the food vanished from the tables, Dumbledore stood, commanding the attention of the room again. "Now that we have all had our fill, I shall proceed to put us to sleep with a rather long and boring series of announcements!" The, rather pathetic, joke fell flat but the aged Headmaster paid it no mind. "Mr. Filch would like me to announce that another 47 items have been added to the list of banned items. For anyone who wishes to know, the full list is posted on the door of his office. I would like to remind all students that magic is forbidden in the corridors between classes. The Forbidden Forest is, for lack of a better word, forbidden. Students would do well to remember this in the future." At these words, the doors of the Great Hall slammed open and a man limped into the door way. His appearance was enough to make some girls squeal in fright and some others wonder just why he tried to wrestle a tiger. His face was marred by scars with a chunk missing from his nose. His gray hair was thinning but not to the point of bald spots. The most noticeable features, however, were his leg and his eye, or rather his lack of. In place of his right eye was an electric blue glass orb that swiveled around, seemingly of its own will, stopping every so often to stare at one or another student. His left leg was missing at the knee, ending in a piece of roughly carved wood with what appeared to be a claw for a foot.

"Who is he?" Harry questioned, in genuine curiosity. If this was supposed to be Alastor Moody, then it would seem as if his intel was spot on. "That's Mad-Eye Moody, one of the best Aurors out there. They say half of Azkaban's cells were filled by him. He's unbelievably paranoid though. I can't say I blame him," answered Ron in a rare moment of non-Quidditch intellect. Harry let a small, almost invisible, smirk slip onto his face. 'I must give Voldemort credit for having a Death Eater impersonate a renowned Auror. It definitely has style. Add to that, the man's paranoia means any slip-ups will be attributed to that and not an imposter. Very well played.' As the man made his way to the front of the hall, Dumbledore let an even bigger smile slip onto his face than usual. "Ah, I see you made it. Good, good. Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Alastor Moody, your new Defense against the Dark Arts professor." A grunt of acknowledgement was heard from Moody as he sat down and took a drink from his hip flask.

'Probably Polyjuice to keep the form and to keep up with the paranoid act.' Harry thought. The rest of the school seemed rather put out at the new professor, but with his Auror background many were looking forward to the class. "Now, for the final announcement, there will be no Quidditch tournament this year." At this announcement much of the hall erupted into fierce complaints. In keeping with his Golden Boy act, Harry made a few token complaints before shutting up. A few seats down from him he overheard the Weasley twins planning ways to spell Dumbledore's beard rainbow for the rest of the year. With a small snicker he turned his attention back to Dumbledore who had just shot off a noise making spell. "Ahem, as I was saying, there will be no Quidditch tournament this year as Hogwarts will be playing host to the Tri-Wizard Tournament!" A few gasps and a lot of excitement filled the hall as the Wizard raised students realized what was happening.

"This Tournament is designed to promote international unity and friendship. Though dangerous in the past, every precaution has been taken to ensure a successful and safe tournament. More information will be announced upon the arrival of the delegates from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang on October 30. Now, I would like to wish you all a good night. Prefects, if you would please show your houses to the dormitories?" With that Dumbledore retook his seat as the hall filled with chatter from the leaving students discussing the upcoming tournament. 'Yes the Malfoys did well, all the information so far has been just as they said.' With these thoughts and his plans running through his head, Harry made his way to the Gryffindor dorms for a good night sleep after placing charms around his bed to keep out Weasley's snoring.


	4. Chapter 4

_***poke poke* Nope, it's not an illusion, another chapter! Though I will admit I meant to have this chapter up 2 weeks ago but procrastination is a horrible mistress. This chapter also happens to have the engagement of everyone's favorite King and Queen! Yay! I did something! No real notes to speak of aside from me making Astoria a lesbian, just because I felt like it, it's really inconsequential to the plot and a spur of the moment decision. Anyway, enjoy the chapter. Reviews are appreciated. Any flames will be subject to my trap card, Magic Cylinder. You have been warned.**_

**Disclaimer: *looking around franticly* Where did I put the rights to Harry Potter? Oh, right, I don't own them and never did. Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling.**

**Legend:  
**"Speech"  
'Thought'  
§Parseltongue§

***Gryffindor Boy's Dorm, September 14****th*******

Harry awoke with a large yawn. It had been two weeks since the start of term and he was already going crazy. His very first Divination class resulted in his predicted death at the hands of a large waffle, Snape was even more surly and insulting than usual, and his so-called friends wouldn't leave him alone for five minutes. On the positive side he had managed to escape late at night with the aid of Nyx to train and spend time with his girlfriend. His training was coming along splendidly as he was already up to Auror level with his intense regiment. The real payout from all the training made itself known in his first DADA class.

***Flashback***

'Wonder what Crouch is going to be like as a teacher.' Harry thought while standing outside the classroom with his Gryffindor and Slytherin classmates. As the door swung open and a voice boomed at them to enter, all hell broke loose. A hail of stunners erupted from the room as most of the class fell to the volley with the stragglers being tied up in ropes from a well-placed Incarcerous. Harry, having trained with Auror level dummies, easily evaded the barrage and sent out a trio of Parsel stunners at the now identified attacker, Crouch, who was standing in the middle of the room. Not having anticipated someone actually fighting back, Crouch barely shielded the first stunner and dodged the second before the final one caught him directly in the chest.

***End Flashback***

When Crouch was awoken he spent the rest of the class period alternating between praising Harry, berating the class, and screaming "Constant Vigilance". Granger questioned his apparent skill after class but he passed it off as three years of near-death and Quidditch honing his instincts. Checking the time, Harry pulled himself out of bed and headed to shower, he had an appointment to keep and he wouldn't miss it for the world.

After a quick shower, Harry dressed himself in Acromantula silk robes with the Potter crest on the breast and cast a quick glamour to make it appear as if he was wearing his everyday clothes. Passing quickly through the Common Room and down the seven flights of stairs he arrived in the Entrance Hall just in time to be part of the first group leaving for Hogsmade. 'I'm glad I was able to convince Weasel and Granger that I had wasn't able to meet them until after noon.' Nodding to Professor Flitwick as he passed, he quickly commandeered a carriage to himself. Calling for Nyx as he passed outside of the grounds, the Dark King phoenix traveled to the Greengrass home.

Harry's first impression of the Greengrass home was that of a small mansion. The grounds spanned 10 acres on each side of a large white Victorian house. Collecting himself and remembering to remove his glamour, Harry quickly walked up to the front door. Before he could knock a small house elf opened it with a bow and a squeaky, "Master is expecting you." and promptly motioning for Harry to follow him. While on the outside the house screamed opulence, the interior was the exact opposite. While not cheap, the interior gave off a more homey and minimal taste. 'So this is why Daphne never wants anything expensive or showy, she was raised to be modest while still showing her wealth. Interesting.'

Stopping outside of door the elf bowed itself away with a quick "Master in is his study." Putting on his Lord mask he knocked and stepped in at the quiet "Come in" from within. The study, like the rest of the interior, was minimal in wealth. Instead of being cause by decorations however, this was cause by wall to wall bookshelves on each side of the room, only broken by the door and a mahogany desk with a chair on each side of it. Sitting behind the desk was a large, aristocratic man. He had straight black hair pulled into a small ponytail, dark brown eyes, and the build of a solid wall. "Lord Greengrass, I thank you for your time this morning." Harry spoke with a confidence that seemed to surprise the man. "Lord Potter, I must say you're not what I expected. From my daughter's descriptions I was expecting someone a bit more foreboding." Lord Greengrass replied with a chuckle. Harry just raised an eyebrow, not responding to the obvious trap.

"Well, I believe we have business to discuss? Please take a seat and we shall get down to the heart of this meeting. I must say, I'm curious as to why the head of house Potter and a rising Lord would wish to meet with me." Greengrass stated in a slightly stiff manner, as if he knew what this conversation was really about. 'Which he most likely does if he's anything like Daphne, she can piece together things at a scary rate.' After taking his seat Harry got straight to business. "Lord Greengrass, I've come here today to request a betrothal contract with your daughter Daphne." Lord Greengrass raised an eyebrow at that before digging in his desk drawer. Pulling out a stack of parchment he laid it in front of Harry with a small smile on his face. "I had anticipated this and went ahead and had a contract written up. My wife and I discussed it extensively and think this contract satisfactory. I believe you'll find it to your liking."

As Harry read through the contract he was impressed. Aside from the standard contract information about marriage and such was a clause that, upon marriage, Harry would take up the role of Lord Greengrass. "It seems quite satisfactory but if I may ask, why pass the title of Lord Greengrass to me?" "It's quite a simple matter, without a male heir my title would pass to Daphne or Astoria depending upon my will. While I normally would wait to decide who to pass my title onto I feel it would be in everyone's benefit if I passed it to you through Daphne. Astoria could take the title but given her *cough* preferences, the Greengrass line would revert back to Daphne's children." At that Harry had a sudden realization about a conversation he had with Daphne when first discussing the option of marriage.

***Flashback***

"Harry, if you're going to ask my father for my hand at any point in the future, you should know the Greengrass title will probably fall to our children." Daphne stated nervously.

"Why is that?" He asked in a slightly confused voice, surely Lord Greengrass would have the option of Astoria's children so there was a low chance of it being given to theirs. "Astoria has a preference towards women, so there isn't a very high chance of her ever being able to produce an heir." 'Ah, that makes total sense.' Harry thought to himself while nodding to show he understood.

***End Flashback***

"When you put it that way, I should have seen it coming. Daphne had warned me of the possibility but it honestly slipped my mind. I see no problem with the terms, shall we make it official?" Within moments both parties had signed the contract which glowed in acceptance before disappearing to be filed in Gringotts and the Ministry. After a quick celebratory toast, Harry bid Lord Greengrass farewell and departed back to his dorms with Nyx to change. Making sure to grab a small box out of his trunk he had Nyx flash him to a deserted street before he departed to find his new betrothed.

Daphne was standing outside the Shrieking Shack, as they had previously agreed, so the trip wasn't that long. Upon seeing Harry a smile graced her face and she jogged up to him and greeted him with a kiss. "Hey love, you're a bit late." She chastised. "Your father is a bit long-winded when he wants to be." He chuckled before pulling her off to the side. "I have one thing to do before I tell you how the meeting went." The Ice Queen looked at him curiously before he got on his knee and pulled out the small box and opened it revealing a beautiful diamond engagement ring. Daphne nearly fainted on the spot at the sight, having not expected the results from just one meeting. "Daphne Isabelle Greengrass, I love you with all my heart. You are my Queen and the only one I could see myself spending my life with. With your parents blessing, I ask you. Will you marry me?" A quick yes and a tackle was his answer before the newly engaged couple participated in a vigorous match of tongue wrestling.


End file.
